13 Important Things You Should Know Before Your First Ayahuasca Ceremony

Is ayahuasca a natural remedy for healing or just another drug fad? Should we fear it or honor it?

[bctt tweet=”The only devils in the world are those running around in our hearts. That is where the battle must be fought. – Mahatma Gandhi”]

Ayahuasca, also known as yage, is a blend of two plants – the ayahuasca vine (Banisteriopsis caapi) and a shrub called chacruna (Psychotria viridis), which contains the hallucinogenic drug dimethyltryptamine (DMT).

DMT is produced inside the human brain stem in the first 28 days of life as a baby. After that point, it is stored in the brain and only released when the brain sends signals to the body in death.

The DMT is released throughout your brain and system, numbing pain, freeing the mind and taking your subconscious into the dying process.

This is why it is believed that some people make claims to “Having seen the light at the end of the tunnel” or having an out of body experience.

There are many people asking questions about Ayahuasca as we hear more news about thousands of people traveling to South America each year to drink this bitter life-changing concoction.

More celebrities are speaking about their Ayahuasca experiences and now there are even rumors of a legalized US Center opening soon.

Some individuals are desparately seeking healing for physical ailments. While others are wanting a permanent solution to addiction, and mental trauma.

Then there are many that are searching for deeper answers in their life and yearn for more understanding to universal questions. Whatever the reason, more and more people are hearing the call and answering.

One Ayahuasca expert estimated that, on any given night, 50 to 100 Ayahuasca groups are in session in New York City alone.

“It is a ritualistic learning process that is becoming increasingly popular across the globe, with people exploring their personal development through the introspective nature of the hallucinogenic experience,” according to the International Center for Ethnobotanical Education, Research & Service (ICEERS).

According to recent CNN news, “Some believe it can help with mental trauma and PTSD.”

“People are going not for a drug high but for real healing.”

– Lisa Ling CNN

“In the past decade it has begun to acquire a global reputation and has been described as “twenty years of psychotherapy in one night.”

– Graham Hancock

In an article featured in LA Times, Dr. Brian Rush overcame a 20 year nicotine habit saying, “I had quit before, but this time was different,” “It’s like I have no memory of smoking. I don’t have any tactile memory in my hands. That was a year and a half ago, and I haven’t had a cigarette.”

A New York Times story states that Brazilian inmates are allowed to paricipate in Ayahuasca ceremonies at the Santo Daime Church. They take groups of 10 inmates at a time.
“I’m finally realizing I was on the wrong path in this life,” Celmiro de Almeida, in prison for homicide, told the Times. “Each experience helps me communicate with my victim to beg for forgiveness.

“I’m finally realizing I was on the wrong path in this life,” Celmiro de Almeida, in prison for homicide, told the Times. “Each experience helps me communicate with my victim to beg for forgiveness.

 

There are many reasons to want to experience it. The number one reason I hear from others is that they feel called.

Mother Ayahuasca can be a great teacher and her call is strong if she wants you to learn.

If you are reading this, you may feel the call of Ayahuasca. I did as many others do.

I tried to ignore it for over a year and it just got stronger until I gave in and planned a trip to the Amazon.

I can say after doing 8 ceremonies that it is crucial to do your research.

There are certain things to know about it before you go. It can make all the difference in your experience.

I do not pretend to be an expert with only 8 ceremonies. However, in a society that mainly teaches us to ignore our innate inner truth and focus predominately on book read learning, I choose to share what I do know.

13 Important Things to Know

1. Intention and how important it is to come from a deep place of the heart

I realized after my 1st ceremony that intention made all the difference. While listening to the other people in my group share about their experiences the night before, I could see a direct correlation with the positive experiences and specific intentions.

While listening to the other people in my group share about their experiences the night before, I could see a direct correlation with the positive experiences and specific intentions.

I could also see how coming from a heart space rather than a head space made all the difference in whether you would actually receive what you asked for.

Although, Ayahuasca is very unpredictable in what and how it teaches, it was very clear that the heart space is the best choice for an overall positive experience.

It is vital to be very clear about your deepest heart’s desire and to ask for what you want. It is not wise to go into ceremony with a “let’s just see what happens” attitude.

Get clear, specific and direct with what you want or you might just find yourself tossed around like a penny in a very large washing machine.

2. Acceptance and letting go of the mind – It will NEVER make sense

If the heart space is the wisest choice, that means you MUST let go of the monkey mind chatter.

I noticed the regular meditators in the group had more positive expansive experiences while the overthinkers really struggled.

This is not to say that the meditators were not challenged with ego death.

They just had tools to quite the mind and handle it better. During the experience of “Ego Death,” it can feel like a very real threat to your life.

I was convinced I was actually dying as many do. This is why it is extremely important to be able to let go of the fearful thoughts in the mind and sink into a place of acceptance.

The best advice I was given beforehand was to remember the phrase, “I am willing.”

This was simple enough to remember during the intense moments and yet very effective in putting me consistently back into a state of acceptance.

For anyone planning on experiencing Ayahuasca, I highly recommend establishing a meditation practice for at least a month prior to going. It can make the experience much easier on you.

3. You may have ideas of who you are, who God is, who others are and what you believe about your path

Be ready to be shown a whole new perspective on all of the above. Ayahuasce has a brilliant way of throwing all of your ideas and beliefs out of the window.

I lost all sense of identity very quickly and actually feared that I might never be the same. I was convinced that who and what I had been was gone for good.

I felt so foreign to myself, I thought I would not be able to exist on Earth ever again because I had transformed into something other.
I was not sure how to identify myself anymore and questioned everything…especially God.

It was evident I was in the presence of the Creator and Omniscience. However, all of my previous ideas and knowing about this were shattered and evaporated into nothingness.

There was no obvious path to follow any longer.

There was just the neverending moment and it had no logical patterns for the mind to perceive. Just when you think you grasp a bit of understanding, you go deeper into the absolute unknown.

4. The one thing you can count on with Ayahuasca is constant unpredictability. It will take you into the unknown over and over again.

It will take you into the unknown over and over again.

Each ceremony is different. I took the same amount of brew on multiple nights and each night it came on differently. One night, it came on within 10 minutes while another night, I felt very little effect.

One night, it came on within 10 minutes while another night, I felt very little effect.

One night, it came on within 10 minutes while another night, I felt very little effect.

On one occasion, I intentionally took a much smaller dose and it was way more intense than the night before. it even lasted all night.

The level of unknown was far beyond where my mind could travel. The logical mind is left out of it and everything is experienced on a very deep cellular level.

Any understanding that occurs involves cosmic knowledge shared by All.

It is not something that is singularly experienced by the egoic intellect. In fact, the more you try to hold onto the logical mind, the more Hell you are likely to experience.

I was shown repeatedly every place I was holding on and trying the control the experience.

It was a losing battle and the only real choice was to let go.

This plant medicine is the best teacher I have experienced in my life this far but it took me so deep into the Unknown, I couldn’t even relate to anything I’d known previously.

Just when I thought I’d gone as deep as I could go, I was taken farther.

The edges of sanity that had always defined my existence were erased until the only thing left was madness.

I was certain I’d embodied the epitome of insanity at its highest form.

There was nothing else I could relate it to as I slid further away from the known with each breath so plan on being catapulted into the depths of the Unknown.

Ayahuasca is the chess player you will never defeat.

[bctt tweet=”The bigger you build the bonfire, the more darkness is revealed. ― Terence McKenna”]

5. If I could use one word to describe Aya it would be Ineffable

Our current language is inept in relation to Ayahuasca.

Ayahuasca teaches with a knowledge that is seemingly already embedded in each and every one of us, waiting to be heard.

It shakes us with a reminder of what we already intrinsically know and have known since the origin of existence.

It wakes up dormant and long forgotten parts of the whole, leaving us in sublime splendor.

There is no other choice but to listen and respond to the song of our souls.

We cannot deny the truth as it reaches beyond our sense perception into the vastness of what we are.

6. It is commonly described as “20 years of therapy downloaded in a night”

This could not be any more aptly stated. After 2 ceremonies, I felt like I’d seen enough for an entire lifetime.

There was such a vast amount of information being downloaded into my nervous system, I felt I might explode.

It was coming in the form of geometric shapes at a speed that was too fast for my mind to comprehend and yet I was aware of the density of knowledge I was being shown.

It was as if each color and shape had an intricately detailed formula for existence that it was sharing.

Each separate geometric shape was filled with a prism of colors containing even, more formulas for existence and there were millions of shapes dancing through every blade of grass, leaf, tree and All of Existence.

The shapes were forming grids and finely woven webs inside of every single object on our planet and in the entire Universe. I was being given the answer to every question that has ever been asked.

I was being given the answer to all of the Universal questions at once. All I could do was laugh. I could see it all and it was all so simple yet profound. We seemed so very small. Our wars, our worries, our agendas…were just funny.

7. Aya is referred as La Purga for a reason.

You have a choice to make it really hard or a somewhat easier on yourself. I once heard a story of some Australians that got drunk the night before their 1st ceremony, ignoring all advice of the Shamans about

I once heard a story of some Australians that got drunk the night before their 1st ceremony, ignoring all advice of the Shamans about Dieta. They spent the entire night in the bathrooms and pure Hell. They purged violently in

They spent the entire night in the bathrooms and pure Hell. They purged violently in

They spent the entire night in the bathrooms and pure Hell. They purged violently in every way possible for the whole night, which during an Ayahuasca ceremony can feel like time has stopped completely.

Aya will find a way to purge you of toxins on every level; emotionally, physically, spiritually, energetically. You will feel like you are being turned inside out from the depths of your soul so do yourself a favor and take steps to make it as easy as possible prior to your 1st day of

It is not uncommon to feel like you are being turned inside out from the depths of your soul so do yourself a favor and take steps to make it as easy as possible prior to your 1st day of ceremony.

8. Ayahuasca is not a party drug and is not even in the same category with other substances

It is a Plant Medicine and should be treated as such. It should be given respect and not abused.

Although there can be blissful experiences while experiencing Ayahuasca, they can not be expected especially if there are toxins in the body.

It is designed to cleanse and heal anything out of balance on many levels.

I’ll refer back to the story above about the Australians who disregarded Aya as anything other than a fun trip.

It is not something to be taken lightly.

“If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is, Infinite. For man has closed himself up, till he sees all things thro’ narrow chinks of his cavern.”

― William Blake, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell

 

9. It has the power to eradicate addictions, and permanently alter perception of reality

What is it about Ayahuasca that can alter your perception of reality, and change addictive behavior?

There are countless stories about Herion, & Cocaine addicts losing their desire for their addiction after partaking in Ayahuasca ceremonies.

To lose the desire is much different than just kicking the physical addiction and learning to manage it for the rest of your life.

This works on a much deeper more fundamental level. It goes to the source of the urge.

It has the ability to unravel the original trauma that caused the behavior in the first place.

In most addictions, there is an emptiness from a wound in the past. The substance of choice merely temporarily gives the illusion of fulfillment.

Then it passes and there is emptiness again and looming pain around the corner. We continually go back for more each time we sense the pain surfacing or each time we are faced with the huge gaping hole inside us.

“You see, addicts don’t fear death; we live it everyday. What we’re afraid of is actually living, facing our fears, not feeling good enough, rejection, abandonment, reliving past traumas and abuse. But death, there is peace in that.”

– Melissa MacGregor

Ayahuasca can access the deepest parts of our psyche, places we are unable to access otherwise. It goes into these dark corners and cleans us out.

Often the experience has been described as being turned inside out. Once in the ceremony, there is no running away.

Our only choice is to do the work…do the purging. If we do it willingly, we arrive on the other side of our wounds with enhanced clarity and a greater sense of freedom. If we choose to trust and surrender.

10. Icaros 

Icaros are songs given to the Shamans by the plant medicines. They are channeled when a Shaman practices dieta with certain plants. It is a gift of healing from the plant spirit itself. During

It is a gift of healing from the plant spirit itself. During

During ceremony, the Shaman will sing Icaros as a way of directing or composing the energy of the ceremony.

They will sing specific songs to each individual according to what they see within the Luminous Energy Field
One of the gifts the Shaman has is to be able to see these fields and the grids running through the body. They can also see blocked energy, attached entities, disease and emotions. They use Icaros to direct energy and activate chakras.

They can also see blocked energy, attached entities, disease and emotions. They use Icaros to direct energy and activate chakras.

They can also see blocked energy, attached entities, disease and emotions. They use Icaros to direct energy and activate chakras.

They can also see blocked energy, attached entities, disease and emotions. They use Icaros to direct energy and activate chakras.

When I first heard an Icaro, I was not in a ceremony. I must admit, it was not a pretty sound.

However, when the Shamans started singing during my first ceremony, they were the most beautiful sounds I’d ever heard.

They seemed to lull me deeper into the teaching of Ayahuasca. I could also feel the essence of each individual as they sang to them personally.

It was connecting everyone in the room. There was also one point that I felt like I was being taken into a very dark place.

I could feel dark entities coming to me. At that very moment, the Shaman walked right over to me and started singing an Icaro to me.

The entities disappeared immediately.

It was like he was directing them and all of the energy in the room.

I could actually see dark energies fleeing as he moved his hands as if he was waving away mosquitos.

He would also move his hands in a rhythmic way while singing the Icaros. It filled the room with an air of other worldly magic.

11. Power of meditation and how thoughts direct much of the experience

One thing I noticed during every ceremony was how my every thought would take me in a direction.

If I had a thought of love, the experience would shift into higher realms, visions, or more pleasurable body sensations.

This was the case even when I was in the middle of intense purging.

If I had fear thoughts or judgment thoughts, I would immediately feel myself sinking into very dark places.

These were actual places as opposed to just internal feelings.

The room would change and my visions would take on an outer reflection of the thoughts directing them.

I did not completely become aware of the correlation until I was being dragged through a Hell Realm.

It was out of pure terror and desparation that I grabbed onto thoughts of compassion and love. Then, I noticed a shift.

If I was able to sit in a place of compassion, acceptance, appreciation or love, the outward experience would not consume me.

If I did not, I was at the mercy of the tumultous ride, which could be filled with iminent doom.

Even when I was certain my life was over, I could manage to anchor into compassion.

[bctt tweet=”I don’t believe that consciousness is generated by the brain. I believe that the brain is more of a reciever of consciousness. ― Graham Hancock”]

12. Other Dimensions

There is an argument that out of body, near death, and other dimensional experiences are simply explained as chemicals being released in the brain.

Our pineal gland in the brain produces dimethyltriptamine, or DMT. Interestingly enough, DMT is listed as a narcotic, schedule 1 drug in the United States.

Eventhough, DMT is present in every infant and is known to elicit dreaming.

As we innocently drift into a dreamy sleep, we are actually committing a federal offense. Who knew?

Very small amounts are produced regularly but at the time of death these amounts are produced in massive quantities.

Patients have reported details about what happened in the room after they were reported clinically dead, when there should have been no brain activity at all.

Many others report identical experiences of seeing their body below them and then a tunnel and light.

Often, they talk about meeting loved ones that have passed on.

Scientists have discovered they experience the hectic 6 or 7 minutes as a near eternity or lifetime.

This is a common experience of Ayahuasca.

Some say that OOBE and ND experiences are subject to the persons beliefs and are merely projected visions that match this.

What about the athiests that are met by Christ, Angels, or God?

In a study,  done by scientists at the University of Ottawa they are debunking the astral projection of an out of body experience claiming it is basically a very specific type of hallucination triggered by a certain neurological mechanism.

With all the studies on the brain, scientests and doctors are quite often still coming up with just more questions.

When Ms. Reynold reported her after-death experience to Dr. Spetzler, he was startled. “From a scientific perspective,” he says, “I have absolutely no explanation about how it could have happened.”

Shamans speak of other dimensions as the places one goes after ingesting Ayahuasca.

The First Dimension – Quantum Physics; Awareness of the Macrocosm and the Microcosm.

The Second Dimension – Biological Connection; Connection with Animals & our Biological Body Systems

The Third Dimension – Where Reality Is Dense Physical Matter; the one we are predominantly experiencing.

The Fourth Dimension -The Astral Plane, Place of Light & Dark; Angels & Demons; Duality

The Fifth Dimension – Heaven

The Sixth Dimension – Spirit Realm or Teaching Realm of Symbols; Communication

The Seventh Dimension – The Dimension of Energy and Vibration

The Eighth Dimension – Group Souls (Oceans of Light)

The Ninth Dimension – The Creation of Form and Hierarchies

The Tenth Dimension – Is a Conscious Entity – a Universe.

The Eleventh Dimension – The Seed and Soil of Universes

The Twelfth Dimension – The All That Is; The Source

Carl Sagan, the 4th Dimension in mathematical terms in this video.

13. Integration back to life. Assemblage point and how it changes

Integration after Ayahuasca is essential because our point of perception or Assemblage Point can shift dramatically.

When intense healing occurs, our feelings about certain people or situations release.

This can result in us perceiving them differently. Most of us have experienced a shift in energy after a huge argument or crying intensily.

This is an example on a very small scale as to a shift from an Ayahuasca healing.

With this type of change, it can greatly affect how we experience our life as a whole.

It is common after an Ayahuasca healing for individuals to leave their jobs, relationships or anything that is not in alignment with their new higher perspective.

When I got back from Peru, I felt like I was a different person, looking at my life differently.

I had no tolerance for toxic environments.

My desire for loud music, gossip, or meat had fallen away. I could hear peoples’ thoughts and feel their emotions.

I could even communicate telepathically with animals. There was an awareness of my connection to every living being in a new way.

These were just a few of my unusual experiences. This was not something I could openly talk at about over dinner. It had to be internalized.

Needless to say, I needed time to allow a new understanding about all that was happening.

For some it can be very frightening to have drastic changes in perception and being thrust back into their previous life.

I recommend allowing time for your integration to make it easier to transition.

“It may be that DMT makes us able to perceive what the physicist call “dark matter” – the 95 per cent of the universe’s mass that is known to exist but that at present remains invisible to our senses and instruments.”

― Graham Hancock

Buying Ayahuasca Online

There are some places you can easily purchase Ayahuasca online and cook your own brew.

I have even talked to individuals that have done this. I would not recommend it for several reasons.

A few of those reasons being you could get the dose wrong, or you could travel too far as Alex Ward speaks about in this documentary.

Both of which could be an extremely hellish experiment with catastrophic results. There is something very powerful about working with experienced Shamans.

The healing seems to be more effective and the experience profound.

It is meant for healing and I for one would not want to attempt brain surgery on myself because I could buy a scalpel and local anesthetic online.

The choice is yours but I can tell you my friend that did this is completely unwilling to ever do Ayahuasca again.

To experience the healing of Ayahuasca can leave you broken open and vulnerable. it can show you flaws you had hidden in the shadows long ago.

It can also take you into more compassion leaving you with a lasting impression of unconditional love bigger than you’ve ever been able to conceive of.

[bctt tweet=”You are a divine being. You matter, you count. You come from realms of unimaginable power and light, and you will return to those realms. – Terence McKenna”]

To Love Like God – A Mystic’s Poem
by Thomas Razzeto

 

I wanted the world to be different,
so I told the world it could stick it!
But the only thing stuck
was the me in my rut,
a face so long you couldn’t miss it.

Align the whole world to my wishes,
especially romantic kisses.
Only then will I choose
some delight, not to lose.
But this grand plan, it often misses.

In a new way, I found a new thought.
It truly shows what cannot be bought.
Acceptance is the key,
done emotionally!
Only this brings the joy that is sought.

I now clearly see what I can do.
The gift of the now, it offers two!
Choose a smile or a frown.
Pick an up or a down.
Like magic it flows, matching my view.

Plant different seeds, take new action!
Don’t be afraid, work with elation!
In the heart, what we sow,
we soon see in the flow,
automatic, divine reflection.

Though I do love the world as it is,
I fancy more caring and kindness.
Everyday a new start,
peace and love in my heart.
Here and now sweet heaven arises.

God and creation are one, not two!
Like water and ice, they differ to you!
Diverse forms, nothing more,
all the same at their core.
All things divine, though hidden from view.

Can it be true, though hidden from you?
God’s magic trick, to show up as you!
Both the good and the bad,
all the glad and the sad,
one Grand Spirit enlivens the crew!

Give the embrace, no matter the face.
At home and afar, yes, everyplace.
Rock and dirt, tree and vine,
she and he, all divine!
What is not God, I could find no trace.

Each part of God, like drops in the sea,
connected to all, what mystery!
A genuine embrace
of the whole human race.
The power to make new history!

I know that most consider it odd,
the mystic’s view, its picture broad.
This fresh view, could it be,
with new eyes, now I see!
To love it all is to love like God!

Lesson Learned

My experience of 8 ceremonies was a variety of life changing lessons and realizations about how I relate with the world.

The biggest lesson it taught me was that I have one job and that it is to love myself.

It is not my job to fix others or even love them before I have fully loved myself. Otherwise, what am I really giving them?

When I do this, the love overflows into the world and changes the Universe.

No outward action will have any significance if it is not coming from a place of pure unconditional love.

This love that we embody carries energy, knowledge, and a power. It can heal any disease, stop war, eradicate all darkness and alter our very existence.

It does not follow rules of time or the space that we currently occupy. It Is Beyond. It is All Inclusive.

I underestimated this for a long time until I met Mother Ayahuasca.

“The person who follows the path of awareness finds love as a consequence of his awareness, as a by-product, as a shadow. And the person who follows the path of love finds awareness as a consequence, as a by-product, as a shadow of love. They are two sides of the same coin.”

-Osho

Many people are drawn to practices that lead them beyond the mind into the Mystery of the Infinite.

There are many paths to accomplish this. Some choose Yoga, Meditation, Plant Medicine, Quantum Jumping or more.

They hear a call that is just under the monkey mind chatter and when they touch that place of stillness, it awakens a part of them.

I believe we encounter situations throughout our lives that plant seeds of consciousness in our souls.

Then, when are drawn to certain people, certain paths at the just the right time for these seeds to sprout and grow fully.

“If you can become just your own self, if you can blossom into your intrinsic nature, then only you will have blissfulness – a peace which cannot be expressed in words, and a certain poetry to your being; a certain dance to your being, because you will be in tune with existence. To be in tune with yourself is the only way to be in tune with existence. Nobody needs personal guidance, because all personal guidance is a beautiful name for dependence on somebody and he is going to distort you.”

-Osho

Thank you for reading! If you would like to work with Misha in preparation for your Ayahuasca Ceremony go here.